A Father's Name(65)

“Hey, at least it’s not paperwork,” Tyler said as she walked by him and he chucked Jace on the chin.

Angelina groaned. “No, the paperwork comes after the calls.”

Tyler laughed. “I could take care of some of it for you this afternoon. I think Lou’s giving me a light load so I can help you.”

“I should go yell at him and assure him I don’t need to be coddled, but instead…” She left the sentence hanging, ran over and hugged the very confused senior mechanic, and winked at Tyler as she took Jace back to her office.

Only a few more days and Jace wouldn’t be coming in with him.

And he and Angelina would call whatever-it-was-they-had quits.

Somehow he’d adjust because that was what was best for Angelina. Bart would be gone and for the first time she’d be on her own. Solo. Independent. Able to do anything and everything she hadn’t been able to do with a child at home.



He’d miss her, but he’d find a way to live with it because it was the right thing to do. He loved her enough to want her to have more than a felon.

Some of his happier mood faded.

He knew that dating Angelina would be selfish, but that didn’t keep him from wishing things were different. He, more than most, knew that a man’s name meant everything, and he’d seen to it his name meant as little, or less than his father’s had.

He went to work and tried to ignore his rapidly darkening mood.

An hour later, North called, “Hey, Ty, phone!”

Tyler crawled out from under the Smart Car he’d been working on and wiped his hands on a rag as he walked over to the phone. He picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Tyler, it’s Henry Rizzo.”

Tyler’s happy mood when he came into work wasn’t just darker, it shattered. “Yes, Henry? Is there a problem? I’ve done everything I was required to do according to my parole officer.”

His attorney was silent a moment and then asked, “You’ve got a few letters lately, right?”

Tyler thought about Angelina’s finding the most recent one. Certified this time. “Yes. I’ve got them. But my understanding was, I’m not legally required to meet with them.”

“You read them, the letters? You realize this could be major?”



“No,” he said. “Uh, I read the first one, and I’m not interested, so I’ve tossed the others.”

“Not interested in being exonerated? In having the court clear your name, without any prodding on my part, without my filing a motion?”

He thought of Angelina and wished he could give another answer. If his conviction was wiped, as if it never happened, maybe they could…he could… He shook his head. Mrs. Matthews used to say if wishes were horses even beggars would ride. When the Matthews took him in, he’d admitted that sometimes wishes did come true. He had a family, albeit a borrowed one. He’d been granted a wish. But as an adult he was aware, lightning didn’t strike twice.

He knew that if he exonerated himself, Jason would pay the price, and through osmosis, Jace.

Tyler knew what it was like to grow up with a father whose mere name was an embarrassment. He wanted more than that for Jace. He couldn’t live with himself if he saved his name at Jason’s and Jace’s expense, so he said, “Yes, Henry, I’m sure that I don’t want to pursue this. That is exactly what I’m saying.”

“And I’m saying the judge and ADA requested a meeting with you informally over lunch on Friday. They asked me to call you and strongly encourage you to be there.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Listen, Tyler. I’m your attorney and I can’t imagine many instances where I would tell a client to meet with an ADA and the judge who sentenced them, but I’ve talked to Jackie, the ADA, numerous times since this all came out. And I think you should meet with them.”

“They’re not going to change my mind.”

“Then look on it as a chance to convince them of that. However, as your attorney, I’m going to suggest you rethink your position. Carrying around a record is tough. Carrying one around when you didn’t commit the crime and could have been exonerated? That’s asinine. You could have your old life back.”

Angelina came into view outside the garage with Jace in her arms. Jace squirmed and she set him down and he sprinted to North, who scooped him up and twirled the baby a little too vigorously for Angelina’s liking. She walked over to them and scolded, while North and Jace both laughed. Pretty soon Joe and Lou joined the group and Jace jumped from person to person, a small dictator with his minions willing to do his bidding.